"A good deal depends on the character of the master," was the reply. "Some masters get along very pleasantly with their debtors—allow them to trade a little on their own account—and associate with them on equal terms.
WEARING THE CANGUE.
"Others treat them harshly—perhaps not without cause—sometimes, and punish them severely for disobedience. While I was at Dobbo, a Chinese merchant fastened one of his slave-debtors in a cangue, and kept him there an entire day, chained to the wall of his shop. The man had been caught stealing from his master, and the latter made himself judge, jury, and police-officer without delay. The cangue is a wooden collar around the neck; it is about three feet square, and made of planks from one to two inches thick. It is a heavy article of wearing apparel, and not at all ornamental."
Frank asked if the native captains understood navigation after the European form, and could take the positions of the sun and moon with instruments like those used on American or European ships.
"They are not good navigators," responded their informant, "as we understand navigation, but they manage to get along wonderfully well with very rude appliances. They take the altitude of the sun with a stick, to which is attached a string with a peculiar arrangement of knots; and they understand the use of the compass. They have a water-clock, which is very simple, and much more accurate than you would suppose.
"It consists of a bucket of water, and the half of a cocoa-nut shell. There is a tiny hole like the prick of a needle in the bottom of the shell, and when you put it on the water you can just see a stream like a thread spurting up. It takes an hour to fill the shell, and when it is full it goes plump to the bottom of the bucket, making a bubbling noise that attracts the attention of the man on duty, who immediately puts the shell in place again. I used to try it with my watch, and found that it never varied more than a minute from the hour, which is quite accurate enough for an Oriental. The motion of the boat had no effect on it, as the water in the bucket was always on a level.
"The voyages of these boats are made with the monsoons, so that the course is largely guided by studying the direction of the wind. Only one voyage can be made in a year from Macassar—the boats starting in December or January with the west monsoon, and returning in July or August with the east monsoon. The distance is about a thousand miles, and is made in from twenty to thirty days each way.